How to ensure the privacy of your iPhone texts

In our fast-paced, interconnected culture where nearly everyone is equipped with a media device, privacy is becoming a valuable commodity that’s harder and harder to retain. And if you’re an iPhone user and business owner who’s oftentimes on the go, you may be texting confidential information on on a daily basis that, if made public, could have a negative impact on your company. Don’t let that happen. Here are three easy steps to take to ensure your iPhone text messages are kept private.

Turn off message previews

Have you ever accidentally left your iPhone on your desk while taking a bathroom break? When your phone is left unguarded in a public place, this is a golden opportunity for a passerby to glimpse a confidential message on your phone’s display. Here are the steps to take to prevent this from happening. Click on the following:

Settings

Notifications

Messages

Show Previews (turning it off)

With the preview setting off, you’ll still be alerted to a new text message. The only difference is that not a single line of said message will be viewable if someone sneaks a peek at your display.

Automatically delete texts

If you lose your phone or it gets stolen, there’s always the chance of it falling into the wrong hands. When that happens, you don’t want your sensitive or valuable information exposed to a stranger.

To avoid this nightmare scenario, there’s an easy solution to ensure your messages are deleted automatically after a designated time period of your choosing. Follow these steps for this additional security. Click on:

Settings

Messages

Keep Messages

From here you now have the option to keep your messages for 30 days, a year or forever.

Turn off read receipts

When the word “Read” appears under a text message you’ve sent, this is a read receipt. It informs you that the the receiver of the text has seen your message. This works both ways, and also alerts the person you’re messaging with that you’ve read their text as well. So, why would you want to turn this off?

Maybe you don’t want to respond immediately to a client or colleague who is corresponding with you via text. If that’s the case, you may not want him or her to know that you’ve seen their message and are waiting to respond. In this scenario, turn off your read receipts and whoever it is you’re texting with will never know you saw their message.

To turn off read receipts, click on:

Settings

Messages

Send Read Receipts (turning it off)

With these additional privacy measures in place, you can rest assured that a confidential text message will never be seen by the wrong person.

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